I had originally planned to stay for 9 nights at this hotel with my wife,starting in late june 2008.On arrival check in was ok,i asked if they had a nice room for me the receptionist said yes(we had booked a partial sea view with king size bed for $800 per night.)

When i got to the room the partial sea view was a joke,it should have been called a full road view as the room was on the first floor overlooking the road that runs underneath the hotel.

Although it was late i decided to complain to be told that the hotel was fully booked for the weekend(it was thursday pm) and they could only move me on the sunday.

I accepted this as a compromise and went to bed. To my horror the following morning we were woken by a delivery truck backing onto the loading dock at 4am,we got the loud reversing beep and the engine revving for at least 30 minutes,needless to say after arriving from the uk the previous day,this was the last thing i needed.

Again i complained to management only to be told again that the hotel was fully booked.

The following morning was the same 4am angines revving,beep beep beep,perfrct night 2 ruined.

This time i decided to up the ante,i told the manager that if i was woken a third night by the delivery truck then i would make sure that the rest of the hotel enjoyed the same experience,Miraculously they found me a room(overlooking the pool on the 7th floor)which was a good spot,not an upgrade,same room with partial sea view,but on the internal part of the hotel.I know this sounds like whinging but when i got in the new room there were several undeleted phone messages on the hotel phone going back some weeks with the handset flashing,this said to me that the room had been empty all along and is used for 'emergencies'

I eventually checked out 2 days early. My opinion is that the hotel is overrated,most of the rooms are badly situated with a road or truck park view(have a look on google earth you will see what i mean.
Having said this lunch at 1 pico their restaurant was excellent and service very good,however you would get better rooms and value at either casa del mar(next door) or loews one block futher down.If you like hip and trendy try the Viceroy one block behind.

This hotel is wonderful. The rooms are very well appointed, beautiful large bath tub, great beds and service. They are currently working on putting in a jacuzzi by the pool so there was some slight construction noise while we were poolside. Other than that it was just wonderful. Always call down for your car to be brought up before you leave your room as they are usually very busy.

- Stayed at Shutters for 6 nights, in a room overlooking Pico Blvd.
- The room was superb in every way, genuinely "home away from home", with bookshelves loaded with fun "coffee table" books.
- Gorgeous bathroom, with a window opening onto the bedroom, allowing daylight from the bedroom into the bathroom.
- Generally our stay was good, but I'd been led to expect more from family having stayed here before. Service from most staff was exceptionally friendly and helpful, but I found the front desk to be useless. One example: we went down to the pool at 8:30 AM for a morning swim, only to find it padlocked shut, although it was meant to open at 8 AM. Called the front desk, who gave no explanation, but promised to call our room when the pool was unlocked. Never received a call.
- On another occasion, while trying to relax by the pool at lunchtime, building work with drills, nail guns and glue guns (smelly) was taking place. It might have been possible to move away down to the far end of the pool deck, except between the noise from the hotel restaurant extractor fan (constant) and the smell of sewage works taking place on the beach, this was also impossible. When this was mentioned to the front desk, we were offered a vague apology. Oh, and half the pool deck was closed on two afternoons for a wedding and an "event"....
- Every hotel I've ever stayed in, from the smallest B & B to luxury hotels has put complimentary bottles of water by the bedside. Not so Shutters. They could learn some lessons from the Raffles group...
- In conclusion: overall fine, but could try harder.

We chose Shutters as our first stopover on a fly-drive holiday at the beginning of June, mainly because guidebooks advertised it as one of few Santa Monica hotels actually located on the beach (i.e. rather than a few streets/blocks away). As first time visitors to LA, we were slightly daunted by the prospect of having to cross a freeway to get to the ocean, so we chose Shutters as a sure bet. We were not disappointed! The hotel is adjacent to the broadwalk (promenade) and from our partial-ocean-view room we could see the Santa Monica pier with all its attractions.

The hotel itself is quite large and comprises several wings, many staircases and different elevators, which means getting to our room from the lobby took a while, but it was just part of the hotel's charm rather than a nuisance.

The place is architecturally curious - it is grand in size and quite old-style (and pretty) in structure, which implies former grandeur, and yet it has a modern, up-to-date feel which creates a very pleasant ambience.

The room itself had a huge bed, and was well equipped with all kinds of mod cons you would not find in other hotels (coffee and tea maker was our all time favourite, very helpful with the jetlag). Seeing the bath for the first time actually made me laugh - the tub could fit a small whale, and there was a TV with a remote next to the mirror!

Contrary to what other reviewers have recently said, when we stayed there there was no building work in progress, and the pool was fully operational. A couple of times we saw some people painting the woodwork, but nothing noisy!

But to be honest we did not even consider the pool, as the beach is just outside the back door. Due to jetlag we would wake up around 6 am, which gave us an ideal opportunity to jog along the broadwalk down to Muscle Beach and back, or to simply walk along the beautiful, wide sandy beach, watching seagulls and surfers, before the tourist rush hour. The promenade can also be explored by bike (rented from hotel or one of many rental shops along the beach), on rollerblades, skates or otherwise - as many people do throughout the day.

The 3rd street promenade with all the nice shops and pavement restaurants is also quite easily accessible on foot (about 10-15 minutes), but otherwise we were glad to have rented a car (20 mins to LAX, 40 mins to Downtown). A tip if you are renting your own means of transport - get a GPS device, it will save you a lot of time otherwise spent poring over inaccurate maps! Traffic in LA can be fast and furious, and what may look like an easy freeway drive from A to B on paper, is a different story in reality. However, driving is relatively easy once you get the hang of the short freeway ramps and "right lane must turn right" kind of rules. The valet charge at Shutters was around $33/day.

For breakfast we would always go to the hotel restaurant downstairs (I forget the name). The service was fast and excellent (maybe because it would always be after 10 am by the time we got there), and the food great.

And 2 final points - while wandering around we did spot several other hotels nearby - only one other on the beach, and several more within a short walking distance, so no need to cross freeways! Secondly, a minor flaw which didn't affect us, but which could be a problem if your room is inconveniently located above the back door leading to the beach - there was a large sewage drain leading to the sea just by the hotel which had an unpleasant smell. Luckily it was very localised. Also, while we were there we saw construction workers covering the pit with sand, so maybe it was just a temporary glitch.